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Netflix exec says 85 percent of new spending will go towards original content

In case you had any doubts that original content is a big priority at Netflix, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos estimated that 85 percent of the company’s total spending is going to new demonstrates and movies.

That’s according to Variety, which reported on Sarandos’ remarks today at MoffettNathanson’s Media& Communications Summit 2018 in New York. He also said Netflix has a 470 originals scheduled to premiere between now and the end of the year, bringing the total up to around 1,000.

It’s probably not astonishing that the service is prioritizing originals. After all, Netflix seems to be highlighting a new one every time I open it up, and challengers like Apple, Amazon and Hulu are ramping up their own spending.

But the depth of Netflix’s library, which is achieved by licensing content from others, has always seemed like a strength — in fact, a recent analyse found that licensed content makes 80 percent of Netflix viewing in the United States.

Part of the context here is that many of the studios that have sold their contents to Netflix in the past are now either saving it for their own streaming services or looking to raise the prices.

And while movies account for one-third of viewing on Netflix, Sarandos pointed to new, big budget titles as one region where it no longer builds sense for the streaming service to spend a ton of fund — because if you really want to catch the latest blockbuster, you probably already assured it in theaters.

“We said, perhaps we are capable of put the billion dollars we’d put in an output deal into original cinemas ,” he said.